NSW: Feathers fly in chicken disease payment row

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-1999
NSW: Feathers fly in chicken disease payment row

SYDNEY, Aug 22 AAP - New South Wales Agriculture is confident an outbreak of Newcastle
disease on a Sydney chicken farm would be quickly contained.

The Department's executive director Geoff File said everything was being done to deal with
an outbreak of the disease in poultry at Schofields, in Sydney's western suburbs.

He said a small number of birds on an egg-laying farm had died from the disease.

More than two million chickens were slaughtered following outbreak of the highly contagious
disease at Mangrove Mountain Ridge, on the the New South Wales Central Coast in April.

The department's Bill Muldrew said the new outbreak appeared small and slow-moving.

Authorities would today destroy the Schofield farm's remaining 8,000 chickens to guard
against it spreading.

This process was expected to start about noon and be completed by nightfall, he said.

"While it's a highly virulent strain it doesn't seem to be spreading as fast as the
Mangrove Mountain Ridge outbreak," he told AAP.

"But we're always concerned it can spread and last Thursday a three kilometre quarantine
was placed around the farm."

AAP jo/cjh

KEYWORD: NEWCASTLE (CARRIED EARLIER)

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